Different Types Of Engine Oil- What Type Of Oil Does My Car Needs?

Buying a luxury car is easier than maintaining it. You can prevent various failures & damages by maintaining it as in good condition. The servicing & upkeep of a vehicle enhances its longevity & durability. A regular maintenance schedule comprises oil changes, fluid checks & filter replacements. The most important component of the vehicle is motor oil. The engine oil is the most important factor that enhances your engine’s performance & its lifespan.

The engine comprises different metal parts that collide inside the engine block & generate energy. These parts move together with other parts & potentially crash together. It helps in keeping the internal components smooth while moving, which enhances the vehicle’s performance. But if your vehicle has a low level of engine oil, then it may lead to serious problems such as engine ticking sound problems. Choosing the right types of engine oil can improve the vehicle’s longevity.

It is important to choose the right type of oil for an oil change. In the market, there are different brands, different quantities, different weights & even different types of oil. Thus choosing the right oil from many options can be daunting. Thus we cut through the confusion to help you in choosing the right motor oil for your car. Before going to discuss the different types of motor oil, we firstly discuss what is engine oil?

What is engine oil?

Engine oil is an engine lubricant that ensures the smooth functioning of your engine. It helps in preventing engine components from tearing apart & welding together. Motor oil is a mix of base oil & certain additive compounds that reduces the friction & heat produces by the engine’s metal parts. It also helps in lubricating the engine parts, absorbs the heat produces by the motor, cleans it & protects it against excessive wear & tear. Moder engines oils enhance the vehicle’s performance as well as its fuel economy.

It is made with some additive compounds & dispersants like detergents, antioxidants, viscosity index improver & many more. These compounds have different purposes such as:

• They provide adequate protection & deal with engine wear & tear.
• Prevents the engine sludge from buildup on engine parts.
• It increases fuel economy & protects the internal combustion engine.

How many types of engine oil are there?

Let’s have a look at different types of motor oil. We have covered all different brands & qty oil such as conventional, synthetic, synthetic blend & high mileage oil. Thus you can easily choose, which one is best for your vehicle.

Conventional oil

Conventional oil is said to be mineral oil that is extracted through crude oil & should be refined in factories. It has broad ranges of viscosity grades & quality levels. There are some different additives & processes done to improve its engine protective properties. This oil is appropriate for cars having a simple engine design & low mile engine. Moreover, conventional oil is budget-friendly. It helps in keeping your engine protected & runs your engine smoothly. But it does not provide any protection against different varying engine temperatures.

The main function of convention oil is to lubricant the engine components. It is one of the budget-friendly options that has the right weight & quantity that offers reasonable performance. Even you can expect to change this oil between 3,000 & 5,000 miles. This conventional motor oil should be refined to remove the impurities & blended with a variety of chemicals such as detergents to neutralize sludge, antioxidants that inhibit metal degradation & anti-foam agents that prevent air bubbles.

Below we have discussed some major benefits of sticking with conventional motor oil for your car. Just take a look & get yourself to a better appreciation of conventional motor oil.

1. Most cost-effective: One of the most effective benefits of opting for conventional oil is the cost. This conventional lubricant is more affordable than other oil types. Choose the conventional oil for a fine performance with a regular oil changing schedule, it is a good way to save your money by opting for the low-cost effective fluid.
2. Easier to find: For both consumer & professional mechanics, the conventional oil is easier to find out of there. Also, it is quite more difficult in finding high-quality oil in local areas. But the conventional lubricant is easily found in local area shops at the best prices.
3. Better for old engines: Generally, old engines do not support high-quality oil. They can cause the oil leaking from valves to crack. But conventional oil is not so high quality, it can easily support the older engines. Due to which your engine remains in a protected way over a longer time. The slow flow of oil promises better lubrication provided for older engines.

Synthetic oil

Synthetic oil is made up of petroleum molecules of the same size, shape & structure. This type of oil is a factory-made oil that is completely a chemically engineered oil for creating higher performance. As it is more consistent & easily controls the manufacturing process. The engine oil helps to work over a wide range of temperatures & conditions to help in reducing fuel consumption. This oil provides higher viscosity levels, resistance to oxidation & thermal breakdown that helps fight against the oil sludge. Also, this oil improves fuel efficiency & the vehicle’s horsepower by reducing the engine drag. This fluid is applicable for vehicles that demand high-level performance & a high level of lubrication and have more complicated & high-performance engine designs.

The synthetic fluid is more helpful in reducing friction & handling extreme temperatures. You can change it between 10,000 & 20,000 miles. Some of the high-performance additives are blended to enhance the friction-reducing properties. This synthetic fluid requires an extensive refining process that removes more impurities. Even the addition of artificially made compounds with high-performing additives can keep your engine cleaner & more protective. It is one of the most extensive types of motor oil.

Some benefits of using synthetic oil:

• Synthetic oil can easily flow in cold weather & there is no loss of prime.
• Also, synthetic oil has high resistance for viscosity breakdown i.e, the ability of the oil to flow easily in different temperatures.
• Even there are longer changing intervals for synthetic oil.
• Offers better chemical &shear stability.
• It can improve fuel economy in certain engine configurations.

Synthetic Blend oil

Synthetic blend oil is manufactured by the combination of conventional oil & the ingredients of synthetic oil. It comprises the viscosity modifiers additives that maintain the oil viscosity in varying temperature situations. This oil typically helps in protecting the car from oxidation, cold temperatures & provides higher gas mileage. It has many properties & characteristics of synthetic oil, at a much lower price. This oil becomes more useful when engines engage in such activities as towing, hauling & off-roading. You can change this oil after 7,500 miles. It has ultimate levels of engine protection properties at a low cost.

Synthetic blend oil offers a different number of benefits that enhance the engine’s longevity & improve its performance. It allows to increase the engine’s protection & doesn’t break down. Below we have discussed more benefits in detail:

1. Lower Cost: Synthetic blend oil is more affordable than synthetic oil. As it is composed of both mineral oil & synthetic oil, thus synthetic blend is closer to the mineral oil prices. It is one of the main reasons that more consumers opt for synthetic blend flid for their cars, truck & SUVs.
2. Start-up protection: Mostly conventional oil takes more time to reach important engine areas upon startup. Due to low resistance, it flows more slowly in cold weather. While synthetic fluid is one of the higher resistance fluids, that flows quickly even in cold weather. Hence, the synthetic blend fluid provides a higher degree of protection more than conventional oil but lesser than synthetic oil.
3. Oil Life: This synthetic oil offers longer protection than conventional oil but is lesser than synthetic oil. As conventional oil requires oil change after 3,000 to 5,000 miles, thus some brands’ oil offers protection up to 7,500 miles.

High Mileage motor oil

High mileage oil is designed with a unique blend of additive compounds. Specifically, this oil uses in vehicles having more than 75,000 miles in their odometer. To minimize the oil burn-off & oil leaks, the oil is enhanced with unique additives. It helps in protecting the engine seals that prevent oil evaporation & improve the vehicle’s overall performance. Even it reduces oil consumption, minimizes leaks, oil seepage & reduces smoke & emissions in older engines. It also includes special seal conditioners. It means, when a car or truck has an oil leaking problem, then it may result in seal degradation.

As your engine’s seal is made out of rubber i.e, a material that degrades naturally over time. Hence the high mileage oil seal conditioners react to the rubber seals in recovering the loss over time. It helps in restoring the engine’s seals to their original condition & makes them more flexible.

Final words

In the market, there are different types of motor oil offered at competitive rates. Finding the right type of oil for your car is one of the daunting tasks. Thus in this article, we have shared information about different motor oils. We have also mentioned some benefits in the appreciation of every type of oil. It may help in choosing the best oil for your vehicle. In such a way, you can enhance your vehicle’s lifespan & its performance.